Construction will begin later this month on a seven-million dollar solar installation that will provide power for Grinnell College. Rob Hach (HAWK) is C-E-O of Storm Lake-based Trusted Energy, the firm that’s installing more than 10-thousand solar panels in a 30-acre field.

Estimates indicate the solar field will provide about 30 percent of the electricity for the campus and reduce the carbon footprint of Grinnell College by about 20 percent.

The 30-acre field will be seeded with native grasses and Hach says the plan is to have sheep graze among the solar installation.

Hach expects construction to be completed by the end of the year. In 2019, Grinnell College signed an agreement to buy power generated by the solar field. Hach’s company estimates the college will save about three million dollars in energy costs over the 20-year contract.